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Silver Presented to USS Little Rock LCS9

Passing history from one ship to another

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Following with years of tradition, the USS Little Rock LCS-9 held a silver service on Monday afternoon.

The ceremony, a tradition which dates back to 1794, saw 565 separate pieces of silver that was onboard the USS Little Rock CL92 transferred to the new warship.

"It's been used by everyone from Harry Truman to Princess Grace," John Branning, Superintendent of Ships at the Buffalo Naval Park, said. "There were over 660 pieces total that the people of Little Rock funded. We are keeping a good portion of it at the naval park that have been on permanent display over there. The opportunity to transfer even a portion of this to the new Little Rock is a great honor and we're very glad to be here for it."

Branning said that when their the USS Little Rock CL92 was decommissioned in the 70s, most of the silver onboard the ship was sent back to Little Rock, Arkansas. However, then-Governor Clinton signed an order for the silver to return to the ship in the 80s.

"The connections between the original Little Rock and our Little Rock are important," USS Little Rock LCS9 Commander Todd Peters said. "We want to be able to build on that legacy and heritage. To be able to carry pieces with us on ship that sailed on the original ship is very special and we appreciate that."

Peters said there's no plans to actually use the silverware and that it will be a decorative.

"We have a trophy case just after the bridge that we'll display some of it," he added. "But this is more than we can probably even fit in there. We have to work on (finding a location)."